Carl's Discovery
by Cordelia Rose
Summary: Carl sees something confusing and the grown-ups are absolutely no help. Kind of a sequel to Say My Name.


So AllForLoveAndHappiness left me a review asking if I could follow up on the last line of my fic Say My Name about Carl received the "unconventional sex education" and this is what happened. Hope it's good enough for you!

* * *

Carl was troubled.

Earlier that week, Hershel had moved them all into his house, and made sure that Lori had a good place to rest every night by giving up his own bed. The rest of them were sleeping in the living room in their sleeping bags. It was good fun, really. And on the first night in the house, he had woken up because Glenn was getting up, sneaking out of his sleeping bag, and creeping across the room and heading upstairs. This was mildly confusing to say the least, so Carl slithered across the floor to where his dad was sleeping, and prodded him awake.

"Glenn just went upstairs," he whispered when Rick opened his eyes. His dad blinked at him for a few seconds, no doubt as confused as Carl was. "Upstairs, Dad."

"He's gone to be with Maggie," his dad whispered back. He rubbed a hand over his face. "They're, um – you know how me and your mom love each other?"

"Yeah."

"That's what Glenn and Maggie are right now. They love each other, so they're having some time together."

Carl's brow furrowed. "You're not with Mom right now though."

"It's different. For one thing, your mom needs extra rest because of the baby."

"So Glenn and Maggie are like when you and Mom would go out and leave me with Sarah the babysitter?"

"Exactly. Now go back to sleep, Carl." His dad ruffled his hair and settled back down. Carl was satisfied and slithered back to his original spot to do the same.

The next morning, the incident was on his mind. He went to visit his mom and felt the baby bump, and then decided to go and see the horses in the stables. When Daryl was still resting in bed, Carl had gone to visit and had been promised that the older man would teach him to ride. He might as well get used to the horses.

So he skipped down the stables quite happily, waving to Andrea from where she was collecting water, and told T-Dog that his dad was looking for him because Rick had mentioned something about swapping watch rotas. He went into the stables as quietly as he could, so he didn't disturb the horses, and breathed in the musty smell of hay. Nellie whickered at him softly, tossing her head, and he went across to stroke her. He was still a little nervous of her, but Hershel said that Nellie was very nervous as well so they were both on the same page, which made him feel a bit better.

He wondered if Nellie would like a carrot, and glanced round to see if they were any. No, but there was a basket of apples at the other end of the stables on a bench. Those would do. So Carl set off towards the apples, quietly so he didn't spook Nellie, and glanced into the stalls as he passed them.

He saw something which made him stop straight away.

Glenn was on top of Maggie, his face hidden by hers. His hand was over her mouth and her eyes were screwed shut. Carl's own eyes widened. Was Glenn hurting Maggie? He liked Glenn; when he wasn't doing stuff, they would talk about comic books and video games and sometimes he made silly jokes about walkers to make him feel better. But the evidence was right in front of him.

Carl knew that he had to tell someone about this, and quickly. Still silent, he forgot about the apples and crept back out of the stables, running towards the house after he pulled the doors shut.

Halfway across the field, he stopped so quickly that he fell over on his stomach and groaned. His belly was still sore from when he got shot. He rolled over onto his back carefully and settled back in the long grass, using it to pillow his head.

He had to be careful about who he told about what he had seen. While he knew that he needed to get Maggie help, he also needed to protect his family. His dad got called out on many cases a year when he would come home looking tired, a smile not quite covering the sadness in his eyes, and then when Carl was meant to be in bed he would sit at the top of the stairs and listen to Dad telling Mom about how a woman was being hit by her husband. He didn't want that to happen to Maggie…but what if Hershel kicked them out? Mom needed a good place to have the baby.

Carl considered his options carefully. He couldn't go to Hershel or Beth, or Jimmy or Patricia. Glenn and Maggie themselves were obviously out of the question. That left Dad, Mom, Shane, Dale, Andrea, T-Dog, Carol, and Daryl. Dad seemed to be a little busy these days, and Shane did as well. He didn't want to worry Mom when she needed to be calm and relaxed like Hershel said, so his first three options were crossed out. Dale would be good (he gave good advice), but he was close to Glenn and might want to protect him. Andrea seemed to like Glenn but not as much, so maybe she would do. The same went for T-Dog and Daryl. Daryl was protective of Glenn, Carl had seen that, but Daryl hated people who hurt other people – like Carol's husband Ed. Maybe he shouldn't go to Carol about that either; it might make her feel bad.

Carl stood up, blinking when a shoot of grass poked him in the eye, and went back to the well where he'd seen Andrea. "Hey, squirt," she greeted him, preoccupied with drawing a bucket of water up.

"Andrea, you were a lawyer, right?"

"Yep. Civil rights."

"Did you ever do something about people hitting people they were meant to love?"

Andrea looked up sharply, squinting at him. "Who have you been hitting?" she asked, semi-seriously.

"Not me." Carl glanced around to check nobody was listening. " _Glenn._ "

Andrea stood up then, knocking over one of the buckets. "Shit." She picked it back up, saving half of the water. "Who's been hitting Glenn?" she asked urgently, brushing her hair of her eyes. "Is he okay?"

"Nobody's hitting Glenn," Carl replied, a little confused by how angry Andrea seemed. "Glenn is hitting Maggie. Well, maybe not hitting. But he is hurting her!"

"Carl…" Andrea put her hands on her hips. "Are you sure? Glenn's nice. I don't think he'd hurt Maggie. And they have something going on, you know."

Carl sighed. He didn't know how his dad and Shane did this every day before the walkers came. It was so exhausting being responsible. "I didn't think so either. He's always so nice to me and talks to me about Spiderman and stuff. But I saw it!"

Andrea glanced around like he had earlier. "Okay, what did you see?" She crossed her arms, looking worried.

Carl swallowed. "I went into the stables to see Nellie and when I went in, they were in one of the empty boxes. Glenn was on top of Maggie and he had his hand over her mouth so she wouldn't make a sound!" he glanced around urgently to make sure the couple weren't coming their way. To his surprise, Andrea giggled.

"Why are you laughing?" Carl felt injured. Did she think he was lying?

"It's…Carl, did you see what they were wearing?" Andrea bit her lip, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand.

Carl thought about it for a minute. Now that he thought about it… "Not much. I think Glenn was wearing his jeans…I couldn't see what Maggie was wearing."

Andrea nodded. "Okay, Carl, I'm going to give you some advice, yeah?" Carl nodded eagerly. This was what he needed. "Take my word for it, Glenn wasn't hurting Maggie, okay? Don't tell anyone else about this, especially Hershel. But he wasn't hurting her."

Carl frowned. If Glenn wasn't hurting Maggie, then why shouldn't he tell anyone else? "Okay," he agreed, though he was planning to go and tell T-Dog as soon as he could. Maybe T-Dog would do something about it. Andrea was a bit of a rubbish civil rights lawyer, in his opinion. "I should go see mom."

"Off you go." Andrea was smiling again. "Tell your mom that I'm thinking of her, yeah?"

Carl nodded and headed off towards the house again, checking over his shoulder until he was sure that Andrea couldn't see him anymore. Then he looped around the barn to where T-Dog was on watch, tapping on the side of the RV to announce his presence and scrambling up.

"Hey, Carl." T-Dog extended an arm to help pull Carl up the ladder. "You doing alright?"

"I need your help." Carl sighed and sat down, dangling his legs over the edge of the vehicle. "I went to Andrea but she didn't help at all."

"Andrea's usually helpful," T-Dog frowned. "Considering she was a lawyer and all."

"That's why I went to her," Carl exclaimed, glad that somebody else was thinking rationally. "Because Glenn is hurting Maggie!"

"What?" T-Dog sat down next to him abruptly, staring at him incredulously. "Man, Glenn's cool! He wouldn't do that!"

Carl sighed again. This was so tiring. "I saw him hurting Maggie. He was on top of her and he had his hand over her mouth and they didn't have their clothes on and I think Maggie was in pain."

T-Dog nodded, staring out over the farmland. "Go talk to your dad about it," he said finally, still considering the horizon. "He'll be able to explain."

"Because he was a police officer?"

"…Yeah. And don't tell anyone else until you talked to your dad about it. Don't want to cause any unnecessary fuss."

"Thanks, T-Dog!" Carl slid down the ladder and skipped off, but he was still confused.

There was something weird going on with all of the adults today. They didn't think he was being truthful, maybe? That was the only explanation for why they were laughing at what he said. Shane had hit Ed when Ed hit Carol, so by that logic Shane should be hitting Glenn. Or somebody should be hitting Glenn. Or doing something with Glenn, or trying to help Maggie. Maybe they already knew and were keeping it secret?

So he didn't head to his dad, because his dad had been preoccupied with Mom lately and he might not take it seriously either. Daryl seemed the most logical option now that he had chatted to Andrea and T-Dog. Daryl would take him seriously.

So he went off to find Daryl.

It took him a while. Daryl was quite an elusive man when he wanted to be, which seemed to be most of the time. Eventually he came across him polishing his crossbow on the porch. He grunted to indicate that he saw Carl, then went back to cleaning his weapon and ignoring everything else.

"Daryl, if Glenn was hurting Maggie, would you hurt Glenn?"

"Nah. Korea wouldn't hurt Maggie. Don't do that shit – stuff. He's nice. And he likes Maggie."

"But I saw him."

"What did'ya see 'xactly, Carl?" Daryl looked up from his crossbow then, squinting at him.

What followed was exactly what happened with Andrea and T-Dog. Daryl laughed, then tried to hide it, then told him to talk to his dad about it while resolutely not looking at him.

So Carl walked away supremely unsatisfied and with a mission: find Dad. Maybe Dad would actually take him seriously. That would be nice.

"Where's Dad?" he asked Andrea as he walked past her again.

"Barn," she yelled, on her stomach in the grass, shining a flashlight down into the hole. Carl hoped there wasn't another walker in there.

As it happened, the stable was on the way to the barn, so out of curiosity he slipped inside. He wanted to check that Maggie and Glenn were still there; it would be awkward if they interrupted his conversation with his dad, seeing as it was about them and all.

They were, and now Glenn wasn't hurting her. He was sitting with his legs outstretched, chest bare, and Maggie straddling his lap with her clothes on. Her top was a little rumpled and her jeans were only on one leg, but it seemed better than before. Maggie was leaning against him, looking relaxed, while Glenn hugged her and stroked her hair. That seemed like stuff Mom and Dad did.

Maybe he wasn't hurting her.

But if he was, and then Carl didn't say anything, then it would be all his fault. He really needed to find Dad. He ran across the field.

"Dad!" he yelled, walking into the barn. Rick turned around, a smile on his face. Carl was about to launch into an explanation of what was going on when he noticed that Dad was with Hershel. "I need to talk to you. Alone," he added in a whisper, glancing at Hershel.

The two adults exchanged glances. Hershel nodded and Rick guided him over to the other end of the barn, laying a hand on his shoulder to lead him. "What's up?"

Carl glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Hershel couldn't hear. When he was sure that he couldn't, the veterinarian preoccupied with checking over some of his cows, he whispered to his dad what he had told to everyone else. Far from the reaction he was hoping for, Dad did exactly what everyone else did. He roared with laughter, having to sit down on a hay bale after a few seconds because his legs gave out.

Annoyed, Carl stormed off and left Hershel to deal with whatever was wrong with everyone.

* * *

Carl brooded over the matter over dinner. His mom knew something was wrong and tried to get him to talk, but Carl stared at his plate and refused to look up. He knew if he looked up and saw Glenn and Maggie he would just yell what he thought and then Hershel might kick them out. In the end Dad said that he would tell her later and Mom left him alone after that, though he could still feel worried stares being directed at him, and not just from Lori, from everyone.

After dinner, Carl would have been content with just glaring at Glenn for the rest of the evening if his 'friend' noticed. Instead he sat with Maggie, both of them looking happy, without even Hershel seeming to mind their relationship. Adults were weird, that's all that Carl knew. And he remembered that sometimes Carol would seem happy when Ed was around, and other times not, so that didn't really prove anything.

When it was decided that everyone should go to bed, Glenn slipped out of the room to follow Maggie upstairs. Politely, everyone pretended not to notice, making light conversation among each other and thanking Hershel when he brought in a load of blankets because it was starting to get colder at night.

He was mostly ignored as he sat on his sleeping bag, stomach turning over because what if it happened again while they were asleep, but then eventually Andrea noticed his grave expression and headed over, crouching down by him. "Everything alright?"

"No," Carl replied firmly, hugging his knees. The background chatter ceased and everyone turned to Carl, Rick exchanging a meaningful look with Lori.

Andrea seemed to realize what he was about to say and tried to hush him hurriedly, but Carl was determined to storm ahead, and if Hershel was there then so be it. "What if Glenn's hurting Maggie again?"

Andrea sighed and winced at the same time, glancing over to Hershel. "Carl, I told you, he's not – it's a grown-up thing, but he's not hurting her."

If anyone was going to be upset about this revelation then it was going to be Hershel, and Carl was waiting for him to explode, but the old man merely walked over and helped Carl to his feet. "Let's go talk on the porch," he said gently, his wrinkled face plastered with a smile.

Carl looked behind him to make sure his dad was okay with it, and then receiving a comforting nod he followed Hershel outside. Maybe Dad had talked to Hershel earlier? Maybe adults were reliable after all.

Andrea took it upon herself to explain Carl's suspicions to everyone as soon as the door was closed. Raucous laughter followed, so loud that it brought Beth downstairs to make sure a walker hadn't broken in and was trying to snack on them.

* * *

Carl's head was spinning. A lot of information had just been given to him and he wasn't sure how much of it he understood. What he knew for certain was that Glenn was not hurting Maggie and that they were having…fun…instead. He probably owed them an apology.

He said as much to Hershel, who just inclined his head and said that he didn't think they'd be offended either way, so it was up to Carl. It wasn't his fault that he was young, after all.

More responsibility. Why couldn't people just decide things for him sometimes?

Everyone was ready to sleep when they came back inside, lying down in their sleeping bags, but giggling and swapping jokes. Carl guessed that the majority of those jokes were about his misunderstanding, and if he knew the group at all then Glenn and Maggie would probably hear about this tomorrow morning. He might as well go tell them himself.

He said as much to Hershel, who hastily tried to stop him, but Carl was on a mission. His dad had always said that it was better to do things as soon as possible.

With that in mind, he sprinted up the stairs, yelling back what he was going to do so everyone else knew, and charged towards the door he knew was Maggie's, then slowed his pace to knock before shoving into the room. "Maggie," he said breathlessly. "I need to say sorry."

Maggie had sat up in surprise when he barged in, clutching the covers to her chest, and after a few minutes of trying to find her voice reprimanded him sternly. "When you knock it's not just the thought that counts, Carl. You're supposed to wait."

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry. But I need to say sorry about something else." He looked around. "Is Glenn here? I need to tell him too."

Maggie's lips fought to turn up in a smile. "Um, he can hear you, Carl." There was a muffled noise from under the covers, which now that Carl thought about it was housing a suspicious bump down where Maggie's legs would be. Carl decided not to think about it anymore than that.

"I need to say sorry because I thought Glenn was hurting you," Carl said solemnly. "I got the wrong end of the stick," a phrase that Hershel had used earlier, "and I thought it would be better if I told you now and said sorry."

"You thought Glenn was hurting me?" Maggie's brow creased.

"I saw something and misinterpreted it. Anyway, now I know that you're just having fun, so as long as you're…" Carl thought for a minute. What was the word that Hershel used? "Using protection, then everything's fine." He smiled and left the room before he could see Maggie's stunned expression and hear Glenn asking hesitantly just what Carl had seen.

Carl marched downstairs to find everyone looking at him in abject horror. "I said sorry," he announced. "And I don't think Maggie was upset." Honestly, grown-ups were strange. They tell him to go apologise and then when he does they look at him like he's done something terrible.

"What about Glenn?" his dad asked, looking towards Hershel.

"I couldn't see him but Maggie said he was there, so I guess we'll find out tomorrow."

As it turned out, Glenn and Maggie didn't appear until well past noon the following day because they were so mortified. The teasing didn't stop for a long time after that.

* * *

Hmm this is terrible very sorry my apologies


End file.
